CCFA fills new position of Assistant Dean of Student Engagement
The College of Communication and Fine Arts has a new administrative position in its office this semester.
The part-time position assistant dean of student engagement for the college has been filled by oboe professor Linda Binkley.
“I am here because I really love our students. I really love interacting with (them),” Binkley said.
Binkley said her role as the assistant dean of student engagement is to develop initiatives to connect CCFA students to other programs or faculty within the college that they might not be familiar with or involved in. She stated she wants to give students a sense of community within the vast college of communications and fine arts through seminars, workshops and events.
Binkley was hired to fill the new position at the start of the 2016 fall semester by CCFA Dean Janet Hethorn. Binkley said she is still getting acclimated in her new role.
“I’m learning about what everyone else is doing, and that’s a big part of this job so I can kind of get a handle at the kinds of things students do, what faculty are doing and where can I help," Binkley said.
The position is part time and Binkley said will continue to be an oboe instructor at Central Michigan University’s School of Music, a program within CCFA.
Binkley began teaching the Oboe at CMU in 2009. She also is a graduate of the university, receiving her bachelors in December of 1992.
Binkley has also earned degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Arizona. Nevertheless, she said the faculty at CMU stood out from the others.
“Here the faculty are very friendly, and engaging and supportive. Not that they weren't at these other places, but it was just a very different vibe,” she said. “When I came back teaching, it was really cool for me to realize that that hasn’t really changed."
